Every year, Rich Luzenski of Cinema Serenade (Wednesdays 2-4pm) hosts a reenactment of Orson Welles’ “The War of the Worlds” radio drama in celebration of Halloween.

The original drama was broadcast live over CBS Radio airwaves on October 30th, 1938. The program, which consisted of a series of news bulletins, lead listeners to believe there was an alien invasion occurring in America.

WXOU will recreate the drama this year on Wednesday, 10.29 2-4pm. Or is Oakland University really being invaded by aliens? Listen live on 88.3FM or click “listen” above to find out!

Weezer has had this yelled at them by nostalgic fans every time they release a new record, and in many ways it’s very unfair. Those albums were made in a very different time for singer/guitarist Rivers Cuomo and the rest of the band. Back in 1994 when their debut album was released, Weezer were an unknown band, then were suddenly catapulted to super-stardom, only to realize they don’t quite belong. Those feelings aren’t easily recreated, however that doesn’t excuse Weezer’s output since 2005’s Make Believe. The Green Album and Maladroit were solid fun albums, but after Make Believe through Hurley in 2011, Weezer delved into self-parody, especially on 2009’s god-awful Raditude.

After four albums of disappointments, many Weezer fans gave up. But now, Weezer have surprised everyone by releasing Everything Will Be Alright In The End. With the Blue and Green Album producer Ric Ocasek at the helm, Weezer have delivered their best album since 2002’s Maladroit. Fuzzy guitars are everywhere, replacing the sheen of the past few records, and instead of having awful lyrics like “The Girl Got Hot” or “Beverly Hills,” Weezer gives some heartfelt (but still endearingly corny) performances. “I couldn’t put in a novel, I wrote a page but it was awful,” from “Da Vinci” is particularly great.

Since Raditude, Weezer has been using co-songwriters, and while they’ve had very mixed results, the ones chosen for Everything Will Be… are excellent. Bethany Cosentino from Best Coast co-wrote (and sings a duet with Cuomo) on the excellent “Go Away”. However, the best collaboration on record is the contribution made by Titus Andronicus front man Patrick Stickles. “Foolish Father” is a heartbreaking rocker that is everything you’ve wanted from Weezer in the past 12 years wrapped into one song. This album also proves that Cuomo can still write fine tunes himself: the huge riff driven “Ain’t Got Nobody”, the epic march of“The British Are Coming” and the album closing “Futurescope” suite of “I. The Waste Land, II. Anonymous and III. Return To Ithaka” are highlights of the album, “III. Return To Ithaka” being the most ambitious Weezer has done in years.

The guitar work shreds on this record. This makes some of the weaker tracks like “Cleopatra” and “I’ve Had It Up To Here” much more fun to listen to, and the good tracks an absolute joy.

There problems on this record, some tracks,mentioned above, are much weaker and there a few “huh?” moments like the opening whistle to “Da Vinci”, though it grows on you admittedly, and the trying-too-hard-to-cash-in-on rocking out like’s it 94 nostalgia in “Back To The Shack.”

In the end everything is alright (I’m sorry, I’ll show my self out) and Weezer has made an incredibly fun and listenable record. Is at as good as The Blue Album or Pinkerton? No, those records can’t be recreated and we need to stop comparing every Weezer album to those two. Weezer has made the best record they’ve made in years so take off your headphones, stop being blinded by nostalgia and enjoy it.

The former First Lady, Secretary of State, and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton stopped by the O’Rena Thursday, October 16th to endorse U.S. Senate candidate Gary Peters and gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer.

Nearly 3,000 people packed into the sectioned off arena to watch the rally where numerous Democratic candidates and leaders joined in for support. It was after Lieutenant Governor candidate Lisa Brown spoke when Peters, Schauer, and Clinton took the stage to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” around 6pm.

Following Clinton’s speech, which touched on education, equality, and other “hard choices” (A plug for her latest book), she walked along the front row barrier signing autographs and taking selfies with attendees.

In the last week, Clinton has traveled to Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Louisville, and San Francisco endorsing other Democratic candidates.

WXOU was the only radio station in Michigan to broadcast the event live.

Death From Above 1979 is back in the game with the release of their new album, The Physical World. After releasing their first album back in 2004 and then breaking up in 2006, the Canadian duo took a long break from writing and performing. Despite the time away, the band hasn’t forgotten how to write tracks that immediately grab you ear and hold your attention through the entire album.

With The Physical World, Death From Above 1979 have shown that they can perfectly walk the line between pop and hard rock. Some segments are straight and to the point, with pounding drums and hard hitting guitar chugs, while others are filled with clean fills and smooth riffs. Almost every song has a catchy chorus that will have you singing it in your head days after you listen to it. “Right On, Frankenstein!” is impossible to listen to without wanting to sing along and nod your head as it moves along at a breakneck speed. “Always On” is a track filled with solid rock licks and roughly crooning vocals. “White Is Red” starts off as a ballad like song, slowly building into a noisy rock chorus before suddenly dropping back into calm. “Government Trash” stands out as one of the coolest tracks on the album, moving quickly from one section to the next with a slick guitar lead and blasting drum beats lining the whole song.

The best thing about Death From Above 1979 is their ability to craft songs that you will want to listen to over and over again. Upon each listen it is easy to identify a new, exciting part of each song. A vocal melody, a guitar lick or a drum fill all start to pop out to make The Physical World worthy of many repeat listens. It sounds as if the two members sat down to write the album and just began violently thrashing on their instruments, and then went back and added in layers of heavy rock precession, before finally implementing the catchy hooks into each track. For the most part, this back and forth is pulled off extremely well. However, there are some transitions that seem a little off, and some of the songs may seem a little out of place.

The Physical World is a solid, fun-to-listen to album. It won’t require too much effort to enjoy all 11 tracks on the CD. Death From Above 1979 has created a pure rock album that pulls from multiple facets of the genre. The album is many things: punky, poppy, noisey, heavy, exciting, and really well put together. Let’s hope the band can avoid calling it quits for a second time and continue to produce jams for years to come.

Last year in the United States, 39,518 people died by suicide—more lives than war, murder, and natural disasters combined. And the annual suicide rate has been steadily rising for over a decade.

WXOU is proud to be a sponsor of the first ever AFSP Rochester Community Walk on Saturday, 10.12 1-4pm at Stoney Creek Metro Park. Donations will fund research to find better ways to prevent suicide, education programs to raise awareness in schools and workplaces, advocacy initiatives to support public policy that makes mental health and suicide prevention a priority, and support services for survivors of suicide loss.